Back from the Dead
by Karen6
Summary: What do you do when the entire wizarding world thinks that you’re dead, but you’re just as alive as ever? Do you tell everyone the truth or do you find the person who wants you dead? Trust isn’t there anymore—not when anyone can be your killer. Wh
1. The Secretary and new Boss

"Back from the Dead"
    
    _Heaven must be missin' an angel._
    
    _Missin' one angel, child, 'cause you're here with me right now._
    
    _Your love is heavenly, baby._
    
    _Heavenly to me, baby._
    
    _Your kiss,_
    
    _Is filled with tenderness._
    
    _I want all I can get, _
    
    _Of your sexiness,_
    
    _Showers, your love comes in showers,_
    
    _And every hour of the hour,_

_You let me feel your loving power.___

**Chapter 1:  The Secretary and new Boss**

The stars shone brightly through the blinds of Ginny Weasley's office, and the moon shone like a murky circle in the deep, black night sky. It would have been a lovely sight to gaze at, but unfortunately, Ginny didn't have one moment to spare on viewing this scene.

"Come in," Ginny called in reply to the soft knock at her door. She sat down her large stack of papers and slid her reading glasses off her nose, placing them on top of the papers.

"Miss Weasley, I have two messages for you," Laura Spencer, her secretary stated, strutting into the tastefully decorated room. 

Laura was a small, petite woman with bright sapphire eyes that vibrantly stood out in comparison to her burnt sienna hair. Her face almost as perfect as the rest of her; she had smooth, flawless skin and her small nose. She was the envy of the two secretaries down the hall, as Ginny always overheard them gossiping about Laura when she was getting coffee

Ginny sighed at the voice of her secretary coming into her office again.

 At first Ginny had adored having a secretary to help with her increased workload that accompanied her promotion, but she had found that Laura wasn't one of those secretaries who only did what you said then left. She stuck around when she was unwanted, pestering Ginny incessantly.

After only a week of being in her at her new job, Ginny discovered Laura's self worth depended on others to be herself. When she was fist getting acquainted with Laura, she was reminded forcefully of her old schoolmate Collin Creevy. Collin never really stopped obsessing over Harry, and Laura never would over her.

Every day when Ginny came into work, Laura flooded her with compliments, and not the normal ones secretaries said to get a raise, but personal ones. So, it began; Ginny became the unlucky object of Laura's obsession. Laura's life purpose seemed to be to imitate Ginny. 

"Laura," Ginny gaped stupidly, jerking herself back to reality and trying to shut her open mouth. "Your hair…"

Laura flashed a pleased grin, flicking her newly colored locks over her shoulder.  Her previously brown hair had become a bright, vibrant red, the exact same shade as Ginny's natural colour.

 "You like?"

"U-um…" Ginny stuttered, racking her brain for a polite enough answer. "It's…very nice." she finished lamely, thinking it might have satisfied Laura if she _did_ say that it looked identical to her's. 

"Took me forever to get it the same color as yours!" Laura commented happily, taking a seat in front of Ginny's desk in an overstuffed, plum colored armchair.

Apparently, this woman had no problem with admitting she unhealthily worshipped Ginny.

"You said you had a message for me?" Ginny asked, tearing her eyes away from Laura's hair to see that Laura had drawn in a few freckles on her cheeks and nose with her eyebrow pencil. Ginny resisted the strong urge to roll her eyes, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. 

"Oh, right. Your boss, Mr. Jones, dropped by and said he wanted to see you for something, and then Marc stopped by at lunch asking to see you." Laura's tone softened when she said Marc.

Marc and Ginny had been a couple for nearly seven months. Come to think of it, she had been with Marc when she had been first introduced to Laura. Was that what Laura was after? Ginny had always perceived that Laura had a helpless crush on Marc, but was that why she was trying to copy Ginny?  

"What did Marc say?"

"Nothing much. He wasn't pleased that you weren't allowing anyone to see you until you finished your article, including him."

"Yeah, well, I really hadto finish this article for tomorrow's Daily Prophet. It's supposed to be on the front page."

"I know, Miss Weasley- Ginny."

Ginny slipped her glasses back on and began flipping through her papers again, expecting Laura to leave. Of course, she didn't.

Ginny cleared her throat. "I think I'll go see Mr. Jones now," she said, excusing herself. If Laura didn't want to go away, she would go instead. Ginny didn't want to lose her temper. Besides, she _did_ have to see her boss.

Shutting the door behind her a little louder then intended, Ginny could see that Laura made no move to leave her office.

****

Hearing two male voices inside, Ginny hesitated before knocking on Mr. Jones's door. One voice she identified as Mr. Jones's, but the other was drawling, bored, and unfamiliar.

She peered down the empty hallway, wondering if anyone else was going to come by and see her leaning against Mr. Jones's door. It wasn't likely; everyone had gone home by now though being as it was late on a Friday night.

"Miss Weasley is that you?"

The door opened behind Ginny and she fell into the person who had opened the door.

"Mr. Jones," Ginny greeted, picking herself up and dusting herself off. "Sorry, I heard you were talking with someone, and I just-"

"Yes, yes," Mr. Jones dismissed Ginny's excuse before he could even hear it. "Well, I suppose your secretary told you why I called you here."

"Um, no, sir. She didn't." Ginny felt somewhat stupid. She thought Laura would have told her; she did anything she could to stay talking to Ginny.

"Well, I've had quite a few good years here, and I am finally retiring to stay home with my wife."

"Congratulations, sir. We'll sure miss you at the Daily Prophet; it won't be the same without you," Ginny replied, hopefully wondering if this meant a promotion was in order for.

"Well, you do know that someone will have to take my place here, and the other woman in the department, Mrs….oh what's her name?"

"Claire Nelson?"

"That's it. Well, since Mrs. Nelson is hardly fit for my job…"

"Yes?" Ginny said, unable to hold back her smile anymore. She was sure he called her here to give her his job. 

"So, I've hired someone new to take my job from a different part of the paper."

"Oh," Ginny said, unable to hold back the lack of interest now in this topic, and it showed in her tone of voice. Mr. Jones raised his eyebrow.

"That's great sir," she added dryly, unsuccessfully trying to cover up her disappointment.

"I knew you'd say that, Weasley. That's why I am asking you to help him through his first week here. You're one of our top reporters, and I want you to make him feel like this is a hard working, welcoming place."

"Of course, sir." Ginny wished he'd let her go home now.

"Well?" 

"Well what?" Ginny snapped back as well-mannered as she could, suddenly feeling very tired; it had been a long day and this piece of unwelcome news would only make it longer, and she tried not to sound so annoyed.

"Wouldn't you like to meet your new boss?"

"I'd love to, sir."

"Right, then come on out, Mr. Malfoy."

Ginny's breath was caught in the back of her throat, making her coughing furiously. 

"MR….MR. MALFOY?" she made out through her cough. She doubled up to catch her breath slightly, clearing her throat. 

"Hello Weasley," came the familiar, drawling voice Ginny hadn't heard since her Hogwarts days.

"Hello…sir…Mr. Malfoy."

"Boss," Mr. Jones corrected Ginny.

"I suppose we'll be working together now?" Draco said more as a question then a statement. Ginny stared at him. _He supposes? _He's been hired for the job already, but he's still supposing.

"I'm looking forward to it," Ginny fibbed slightly.

"Good, good, Weasley," Mr. Jones said, patting Ginny on the back. "Well, I must run now."

"I need to go too," Ginny said, seizing the opportunity to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow at _work _then," Draco said.

"I'll see you too." Unfortunately.

And Ginny took off down the hallway in the fastest pace she could not to make it look like she was making a run for it. Seeing Laura was away from her desk, she slipped into her office to pick up her things before Laura came back. Checking out the window for Laura again, she sprinted out of her office and took off for the main doors to leave, her mind still buzzing about all the new things going on.

What Ginny didn't know that big things were going to happen, and Malfoy was only just the beginning…

_A/N This was just basically a chapter to set up the story for everyone. Please review to let me know what you think. The more reviews I receive, the faster I'll post the next chapter. __J__ And a special thanks to all of my betas, who really helped with a lot of the wording in this story! _

_-Karen_


	2. A spur of the moment Holiday

_When it gets cold outside, and you got nobody to love,_
    
    _You'll understand what I mean when I say,_
    
    _There's no way we're gonna give up._
    
    _And like a little girl cries in the face of a monster that lives in her dreams._
    
    _Is there anyone out there cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe._

Chapter 2: A Spur of the moment Holiday

Ginny reclined back in her chair, extending her legs onto the windowsill as she gazed out the window in to the bright sunshine that washed over the freshly cut grass outside. So involved in this scene, Ginny didn't hear the door open behind her.

"Miss Weasley?"

Surprised, Ginny jumped, falling out of her chair and onto the floor. Laura stood in front of her, her face solemn, while Draco leaned against the wall next to her, a wide grin upon his face. Ginny could feel her cheeks burning.

"Yes, Laura?" Ginny pushed herself up quickly with as much dignity as she could, dusting herself off and trying to regain her composure.

"Mr. Malfoy is here to see you."

"Um…right," Ginny said, picking her chair up and sitting back down. Looking closer at Laura now, the sight horrified her.

Laura stood in front of her comfortably, wearing an identical outfit to Ginny's. Ginny jerked her head down checking her outfit, making sure that Laura was indeed wearing the exact same.  

_Was she insane?_

"Thanks, Laura." And once again, Ginny waited awkwardly for Laura to leave, but she didn't.

"Will you excuse me and Ms. Weasley?" Draco said, finally deciding to speak up. Laura's eyes flashed over to Draco, an icy glare, as if it was not in his position to ask her to leave Ginny. 

"Of course, sir," Laura said hotly through clenched teeth as if she was trying to hold back her anger, but failing. She stomped out of the room immaturely and slammed the door.

"So you seem to have an…_interesting_ relationship with your secretary, don't you?" Draco asked with a sneer, sitting down in a chair, and flipping through some of the papers that were on the edge of her desk.

"Can I help you, Mr. Malfoy?" Ginny replied, choosing to ignore Draco's statement about Laura- not knowing what herself relationship with her was. 

A stalker and victim perhaps? 

"You sent me a note asking for a time off, remember?"

"Oh yes," Ginny began the speech she had planned out in her head to convince Draco. "You see, I've been working non-stop here at work, and I feel that I just need some-"

"Fine, go ahead."

"What?" Ginny was caught off guard; she had thought it would have taken a lot more of her best persuading to get him to agree.

"You're right. You've given me the three articles that the Prophet needed. Take a week off. Claire can take over some of your work."

"R-really? Thank you! I'll leave this evening after hours and be back next week."

"Fine. I expect you back Thursday morning, on time."

"Of course." 

Draco reached the end of the stack of Ginny's papers, and he left the room, snorting at Laura, who was waiting by the window with her ear to Ginny's door.

Uninvited, Laura strolled back into the room, taking Draco's old seat.

"I don't like that new boss," Laura remarked. "Do you Ginny?"

Ginny smiled. "Oh, no, I like him. He's just great."

"What- I mean, yeah he's okay…I mean, you know I just don't like his, erm, tone of voice…"

A small snicker Ginny tried to hold back escaped; and she hastily became involved with something in her desk draw, so she wouldn't have to look Laura in the eye. For if she did, she would surely be laughing at just how strange Laura could be sometimes.

****

"Hey there, Miss Virginia Weasley." 

Ginny's eyes flew up to where the voice had come from. "Hey there, Marc."

Marc flashed a grin with his straight, white teeth. 

"I have a surprise for you," he purred, planting a fresh kiss on Ginny's cheeks.

Ginny blushed for the second time that day. "What is it?"

"A weekend getaway to my family's log house this entire weekend."

"Oh," Ginny said in a low, obviously disappointed voice.

"Something wrong, Gin?"

"It's just…I have to work all weekend," Ginny lied. "You know, big article coming up, and my boss wants it in soon."

Marc's face dropped, and Ginny automatically felt guilty. "Oh. Well, maybe some other time, huh?"

"Yeah, some other time it would be great."

"Well, I have to get going now. I have my work too."

"Right, bye."

He picked up her hand and kissed it softly; she smiled. He rubbed his hand on hers, then lingered out of the room, holding her eyes the entire time.

_Why did I just lie to him?_

Sighing, Ginny began to stack up her papers; she couldn't wait any longer to get away. All she needed was a week- just even a day- to get away from her life, maybe just get caught up on some work, but to relax. 

Hastily, she threw some of her papers, pens, and copies, everything into her bag and charged out of her office before she could convince herself otherwise.

She shut the door behind her and slammed a key on Laura's empty desk, so Laura could lock up for Ginny that night.

****

"Hi, I'd like to rent out a room here," Ginny said to the teenager who at the reception desk, chewing gum and flipping through a magazine.

"Okay then, we'll just need some information from you. Your name?" he asked, continuing to flip through the magazine and barely even looking up.

Ginny paused before answering. "Patty Smith."

Figuring if she used a different name, no one would be able to track her down. So when they asked her age, address, and all of the other information, Ginny made up answers. Oddly, she felt like a load had been lifted off her, knowing that no one would be able to bother her this weekend.

****

The next morning Ginny awoke, feeling, for once, relaxed. She was wrapped up tight in a quilt blanket, being bathed by the sun coming through her window.

_Tap, tap._

An owl appeared at her window, flapping it's wings. She climbed out of bed, still clutching the warm blanket to her. Her bare feet hit the cold floor as she opened the window and paid the owl its fee. 

She looked down at the folded paper and something caught her eye. A picture. It was _her_ picture.

Ginny's eyebrows furrowed as she unfolded the paper, and she gasped. The paper fell to the floor, and Ginny still stared at the front page, horrified by the bold headline that still shone up at her from the floor:

****

Daily Prophet Reporter, Ginny Weasley, found Dead in Office 

_A/N I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think about it so far. I won't be able to post soon since we're going on a vacation, so the next chapter should be up at the end of July. And a big- no huge- thanks to all of my betas who helped me make my story loads better!_

_-Karen_


	3. That was then…this is now

_'Cause it makes me that much stronger,_
    
    _Makes me work a little bit harder._
    
    _It makes me that much wiser._
    
    _So thanks for making me a fighter._
    
    _Made me learn a little bit faster,_
    
    _Made my skin a little bit thicker._
    
    _Makes me that much smarter,_
    
    _So thanks for making me a fighter._

**Chapter 3: That was then…this is now**

The only sound Ginny could hear then was her heavy, uneven breathing, and the only thing she could see was the headline and her picture staring up at her. 

She reached out behind her to find a chair. With shaking knees, she collapsed behind her leaning up against the wall, never removing her eyes from the paper. A cold sweat overtook her body, and Ginny felt like she was about to faint.

She wasn't _really_ dead, was she? Of course she wasn't!

Ginny didn't know hold long she sat in that on the floor hugging her knees, but she finally mustered up enough courage to pick up the paper again. She stood up, her knees buckling so badly that she could hardly walk, so she let herself fall to the floor, got onto all fours on the ground, and crawled over to the paper.

There she was- on the front page of the Daily Prophet, and that one word of the headline still shone at her almost evilly.

_Dead_

Ginny swallowed hard and forced herself to pick up the paper and to actually read the article

**Daily Prophet Reporter, Ginny Weasley, found Dead in Office **

By: Claire Nelson

Our own reporter, Virginia Weasley, was found dead in her office yesterday evening at six o'clock by Mr. Malfoy, Weasley's boss. She appeared to have been stabbed in the face and she had bruises covering the front of her neck. It has been recently released that she was either strangled or bled to death by officials.

_We tried to contact Mr. Malfoy to give us a statement about loosing his employee, but he has refused to talk to any members of the press._

Tears began to cloud Ginny's vision, making it impossible to read the entire article.

Her family…seriously upset, of course…We tried to get a word….said a funeral would…next Sunday…

Although Ginny could not make out the words in the article because of her tears, but one sentence near the end of the article stood out perfectly clear.

The murderer is still unknown and out on loose. 

Her grip tightened on the paper, not to read it, but just to have something to hold her. 

Outside, Ginny heard music blasting from the people in the next house, and she heard people out at the lake, laughing. 

How could the world just go on like this?

She wasn't dead! She was right here; someone had to know she was out here on vacation! She desperately racked her brain trying to think of someone who would be coming in any moment now, to come out and see if Ginny ever made it on her vacation and would find her here.

A weary sob escaped her lips. No one knew she was out here- not even her friends, all of whom she hadn't seen recently being as she'd been spending most of her time at work. They all thought she was really dead.

Suddenly, Ginny felt extremely sick. She dropped the paper and ran into the bathroom as fast as she could, just making it in time to the toilet to throw up. She rested her head against the sink, still sitting on the floor.

Draco.

The name was almost heavenly now. Draco knew she had taken a vacation! Had she not only talked to him yesterday telling him she would be taking a vacation?

But then Ginny's hope slowly diminished as the sick feeling of realization washed over her. 

Draco had been the one to find her body, and it wouldn't be like he could find her out here; she hadn't told anyone where she was going.

How could she be so stupid?

And Ginny closed her eyes, hugging herself with her arms, trying to just to clear her mind and make this all go away. Because she wasn't really dead…

****

Ginny let out a groan as her eyes opened, blinking her sticky eyes trying to think about what she was doing in the bathroom. 

Why was she in the bathroom? Oh, that's right… 

Everything that had happened before flooded back inside Ginny, and thoughts began to spin inside her mind.

She was **not** dead. Quietly, she crept back into the bedroom, seeing that it was pitch black outside, and she let her frail body fall on top of the bed. The newspaper still lay where it had been before.

There had been a body, but it certainly wasn't her's. And someone was dead, but it wasn't her. Who could it have been then?

Then Ginny's insides turned cold for the second time that day. Someone else had died in Ginny's office, but it wasn't here. Then it had to be…

Laura…

It had to be Laura. Ginny had given Laura the keys to her office, and Laura had just dyed her hair to match Ginny's! 

Laura was the one dead. Laura was dead instead of Ginny…

Ginny bit her lip and stared hard in front of her. Laura was dead because of her. Someone had come into Ginny's office and meant to kill her, and they thought- think- they have. 

But they killed Laura.

Brushing away another fit of tears, Ginny stood up and grabbed her bag. No more time for moping about this. She had to do something about it, actually, she had convinced herself.

She'd have to face the outside world sometime; she couldn't slink out here like a coward forever. She might as well go now

Throwing her few possessions into a bag- clothes, muggle money she had exchanged from wizard money, her purse, but she paused at putting her wand in. Chewing her lip, she stuffed it in the bottom, piling her clothes on top of it. She would use her wand- not yet at least, not when people could be tracking it.

Then something crossed Ginny's mind. She threw open the drawer of her nightstand, finding exactly what she needed. 

She picked up the pocketknife that lay in the drawer as Ginny's form of protection and started sawing off her long, red hair to about her mid-neck. Once she finished, she stared at her locks that lay on the floor, and she quickly stuffed them into her bag to hid them.

Then she slipped on her sneakers, knowing she'd have to literally run for it; she grabbed her hat off wardrobe and sunglasses, stuffing her hair into the hat and hiding her eyes with the sunglasses. 

She slung her bag over her shoulder, hands shaking, and made way to the door. She paused at the door, looking back at what was supposed to be a relaxing weekend. 

Not even a moment later, she shut the door leaving the house and the weekend behind her. That was then, and this is now.

And now she was going to go find Laura's killer.

Now she was going to go find the person who wants her dead…

A/N Hope you enjoyed that chapter! I know I didn't have Ginny sniveling long, but I love making an independent Ginny! J Please review and let me know what you think! Sorry this took me so long to get out- all of my betas seemed to have disappeared! 

-Karen


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